It comprises two CSP plants, Noor II and III, with a combined capacity of 350 MW. They will be located in the city of Ouarzazate, in the Southern part of the country.

The announcement was made by the Moroccan Agency for Solar Agency, MASEN, on 10 January 2015. The Noor II project will use parabolic trough technology and will have a capacity of 200 MW and seven hours of storage, according to the statement. The ACWA Power consortium priced its offer for the project at MAD 1,36 kWh, approximately USD 0,14 kWh.

Noor III, a 150 MW tower plant, will have between seven to eight hours of storage. The consortium priced its offer at MAD 1,42 per kWh, approximately USD 0,15 kWh. The plants are scheduled to start generating power in 2017.

The Saudi company is already building the first phase of the Ouarzazate solar complex, Noor I, a 160 MW parabolic trough plant. It is expected to begin commercial operation at the end of this year.

Consortiums prequalified for the Noor II tender included Abengoa, GDF and ACWA Power. The three groups were also pre-qualified for the Noor III tender, along with two consortiums led by Électricité de France (EDF) and BrightSource.

Financing

The Moroccan government has secured financing from different international institutions over the last year. The World Bank provided EUR 400 million; the Clean Technology Fund contributed with EUR 238 million; the European Investment Bank supplied EUR 150 million; the African Development Bank granted EUR 100 million and the Agence Francaise de Développement provided EUR 50 million.

Masen is expected to announce the next two solar plants, which will be located in the Midelt (central) and Tata (south) towns shortly. Each project has an estimated 500 MW capacity.